‘I got my degree at Vista’ says Ekurhuleni municipal employee

The Municipal Employers and Civil Servants Union (Mecsu) has laid criminal charges against a senior Ekurhuleni municipal employee for allegedly misrepresenting his qualifications.

It laid the charges in June after a municipal inquiry did not yield the recourse it sought.

In documents seen by Saturday Citizen, Mecsu general secretary Vukile Mlungwana alleged that Ekurhuleni divisional head of labour relations, Xolani Nciza, misrepresented his qualifications and deliberately misled the municipality into employing him, and then earning a promotion to his current senior position.

Ekurhuleni city spokesperson Zweli Mkhize confirmed that a complaint had previously been laid by Mecsu.

“An investigation was conducted by the erstwhile head of department for human resources and a response was submitted to the office of the executive mayor at the time,” he said.

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Mlungwana said the response from the mayor’s office was “wishy-washy” and, dissatisfied by the lack of decisive action by the municipality, had proceeded to lay charges.

Questions over qualifications of senior government officials are nothing new. The misrepresentation of qualifications while in state employ is a criminal act.

A source shared with Saturday Citizen a note, on what looked like a Unisa letterhead, confirming Nciza’s B Juris degree, originally obtained from the now-defunct Vista University.

Nciza said he has been a loyal employee of the municipality for 26 years and will remain so. He denied the allegations made against him and said there was an agenda to get rid of him.

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“I am cooperating with the police investigation and have furnished them with everything they have asked for. All I can say is that I attended Vista University and obtained my degree. I completed the advanced course in labour relations via a municipal development programme.”

Nciza said he would wait for the outcome of the SA Police Service (Saps) investigation.

A Saps source said law enforcement took the misrepresentation or falsification of qualifications by a government employee seriously and that all transgressors would be investigated and prosecuted.

Mkhize did not want to comment further due to the police investigation.

But he said city staff were forewarned about qualification checks before they joined the municipality